Beautiful Beast - Aubrey Irons I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

Beautiful Beast is a gorgeous hot mess. That's a compliment. I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but I want to say up front, that the story goes between POVs, and switches between time periods. So if that's an issue for you, know before you go in that the entire book is written this way. It's a selling point for me, because seeing the story unfold from two different sides and going back to the beginning to see where things began... well, that's delicious.

Bastion is just the worst. As the book begins, nobody likes him. Mostly because he's a huge ass, and he's fresh off a major incident that alienated him from his friends. The feeling is new to him, because he's used to being one of the community's "Crown Princes" (pun intended)



Anastasia has never been impressed with Bastian's wealth or standing, and as soon as she could, she left and didn't look back. When she gets called back because her father is injured, Bastion is quick to tell her that he considers the damage to the property her father's fault, and if she doesn't stay, her father's job is in jeopardy. Of course, this doesn't endear him to Ana - it makes things much, much worse.

He takes every opportunity to be hateful towards her, and Ana responds with spite that she's built up over the years of their sniping. Bastion clearly doesn't have the best motives in asking her back, but Ana can't figure out what they are.

The picture unravels slowly as the other characters reveal bits and pieces, and Ana sees many different sides to Bastion. Not all good, and not all bad. He's definitely done some SUPER shady things over the years, but that doesn't negate the fact that they have a connection that can't be ignored.

I gather my wits as I look up into those eyes, and I know I could stop this.
…But we both know I won’t.
Because I’m weak with him. Because Bastian Crown makes me lose all sense of my sensibilities.
Because I’m addicted to the way he can break me so sweetly, apparently.
My hands tighten on his forearm, and instead of pushing him away, I pull.

I was MESMERIZED by this story, and I cannot recommend it enough. If you're intrigued by anything you read here, please pick it up and give it a shot. It deserves all five of the stars I give.